Iran's Oil Ministry will reportedly solicit bids from international oil companies for oilfield development rights beginning on June 21, Mehdi Hosseini, chairman of the oil contracts revision committee, was reported by Bloomberg as telling the state-run IRNA news agency.
The tender should last about a month, Hosseini said, as Iran requires around $185 billion in investment to revamp its upstream and downstream O&G sectors by 2020, according to the Shana news agency, citing Amir-Hossein Zamaninia, deputy oil minister in charge of commerce and international affairs.
In November, Iran identified approximately 70 oil and gas fields that it would offer in a tender. IOCs have been awaiting details on the investment contracts and bidding rules since then. Because of the sanctions regime, conferences planned since 2014 have not come to fruition.
According to a JBC Energy GmbH report cited by Bloomberg on Tuesday, Iran's oil production increased to 3.38 M/bpd in May from 3.35 M/bpd the prior month. At the end of 2011, immediately prior to the tightening of Western sanctions, Iran's production stood at about 3.6 M/bpd, according to Bloomberg data.
Iran is now the third-largest OPEC producer, trailing Saudi Arabia and Iraq.
(oilpro.com, 31 May, 2016)
